Hobart’s Future as a Creative City
There is a growing consensus that creativity will determine which world cities will flourish in the 21st century. Culture will be more important than geographical location or proximity to natural resources.
The relevance for this for Hobart is obvious. We are relatively small and our population grows slowly. We are at the edge of the world and a long way from anywhere. One of our most challenging tasks is the linked problem of keeping at home our best and brightest while at the same time attracting creative newcomers from beyond the island. And the evidence is in. Men and women who are both creative and geographically mobile want to live in cities with a vibrant cultural and intellectual life. They want this for themselves and for their children.
Our own history has lessons for us.
For generations, more people left the island than came to settle. Our bright young people often couldn’t wait to leave a place that seemed dull and provincial. Some eventually returned but many didn’t. More recently, the spectacular success of MONA has displayed beyond doubt the vivifying impact of cultural innovation.
But we can do much more. And in particular we should draw on those things we already do well.
Currently we fail to capitalise on our rich literary traditions and our extraordinarily vibrant contemporary writing and reading culture. While this literary life of Hobart is not appreciated here at home, even less is known of it in the outside world.
Literature flourished early in Van Diemen’s Land more vigorously than in the larger and older colony of New South Wales. Australia’s first novel was published in Hobart in 1818. The first book of essays followed soon after. Hobart had Australia’s first public library. Writing has been part of our society for a very long time. And the present literary scene is equally worthy of celebration.
Hobart and its hinterland is home to a truly amazing number of active, published writers who are artistically and commercially successful. There are practitioners in all genres including poetry, novels, history, biography, nature writing, children’s literature, crime and romance. And there are many local writers who are prize winners. Richard Flannigan is the standout example. But he marches at the head of a long cavalcade of celebrated authors. You can read a different Tasmanian book a week and never have to re-read it.
The recent news about the struggles of the Tasmanian Writers Centre is emblematic of government’s failure to harness and support a rich creative vein that brings great economic, cultural and reputational benefits to the state. Hobart City Council has an opportunity right now to take the lead in correcting this oversight and make a positive contribution to telling the world about our creative endeavours in literature and writing.
Later this month the Council will vote to nominate itself to become part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. This is an international collaboration between 180 cities that have determined creativity and culture are central to their identity and future.
One very practical way for Hobart to start a connection to this network and tell the world about our story is to nominate to be the World Book Capital in 2021. The cost of pulling together a nomination has been costed at just $20,000 and we would be the first Australian city to nominate for this title. If we won, we would know about it in 2019 and be able to start gaining global recognition for our writing community and literary life.
The nomination and the opportunity to be the global host for a year would provide much needed collaboration between writers, publishers, libraries, arts agencies, UTAS and a range of other organisations that want to promote Hobart as a city with a rich cultural life. Under UNESCO rules, it’s only the City Council who can put forward this nomination, and if we did, I believe a range of partners would be inspired to create an exciting range of activities for 2021 in the global spotlight.
I hope the Council sees that Hobart has a great story to tell and that we are the organisation with the ability to ensure it gets heard.
